Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 With $5 Billion Gift

Bill Gates made his largest single gift since the turn of the century, giving away Microsoft Corp. shares that accounted for 5 percent of his fortune, the world’s biggest.

The billionaire donated 64 million of the software maker’s shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 6, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Monday. The shares were valued at $4.6 billion at the time.

It’s the largest gift of Microsoft shares that Gates, 61, has made since 2000. He gave away $16 billion worth of the stock in 1999 and $5.1 billion a year later, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
“It’s a change in how he distributes that asset,” said Ben Silverman, research director at InsiderScore, noting that Gates has been reducing his stake methodically for years through share sales to fund his foundation.

Spokesmen for Gates and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Gates probably has directed more than 700 million shares of Microsoft into the foundation, adjusting for stock splits, and he would be about $50 billion richer today had he kept them. The June gift represents 38 percent of his holding in the company and is the latest in a long line of Microsoft share disposals that have whittled his stake from 24 percent in 1996 to 1.3 percent now.

Gates remains the richest person on earth after the donation with a fortune the Bloomberg Billionaires Index valued at $86 billion as of 10:40 a.m. Tuesday in New York. His donation once again puts Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos close to the top spot, with a net worth of $84.5 billion.
Bezos, 53, whose fortune has surged 30 percent since Jan. 1, briefly eapfrogged Gates last month to become the world’s richest person on an intraday basis.

Bill and Melinda Gates have given away about $35 billion of stock and cash since 1994, based on the value of the shares at the time of gifts, according to a review of Gates Foundation tax returns, annual reports and regulatory filings. Gates created the Giving Pledge in 2010 with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and they have been joined by 168 others who promised to give the majority of their wealth to charity.

This article originally appeared at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/gates-makes-largest-donation-since-2000-with-4-6-billion-pledge.

My own little Brillo Box story

#whyilovetheinternet #2198

I was surfing around my TV last night. It’s the middle of August and not much new on. 

Found this gem. An HBO Documentary by Lisanne Skyler about her Andy Warhol Brillo Box

It’s right the niche of things I like to watch so perfect. BUT, the reason I watched was Lisanne Skyler’s personal story. 

I even thought about writing a post. I only get around to 1 in 20 ideas so that would have been the end of it…

Here’s the rest of the story

This morning. My friend Angela Chek posted a note on Facebook about her friend Lisanne Skyler and wanted people to help LIsanne launch her movie. 

The post didn’t have a link to anything but HBO so I asked for a link. Talking to Angela, I learned that she was sharing the documentary because she wanted to help her friend. 

The same reason I watched the film.

Now I’m getting into it, so I think “What would I do if I were HBO?”

  1. Find groups on the internet that like art, Warhol, commercial art, documentaries. 
  2. Offer an advanced screening pass to the influencers
  3. Create a place where others could upload photos of themselves as kids with art
  4. Encourage others to make films like this
  5. Find some influencers to talk about the project, the art
  6. Get the usual PR and Advertising to talk about all of this. 

I have no idea what else HBO did to promote Brillo Box. They are a fine organization. I love their programming and commitment to quality, especially documentaries. But seeing the laundry list of HBO links on the YouTube details, and no mention of the story, Warhol, Brillo and especially Lisanne, I know they are just scratching the surface of what could be done.

In the past, media won by like 20th Century brands: “Have the biggest pipeline and biggest budget. Beat the market into submission.”

Today, we get better ROI through influencers, use a fraction the media budget and create lasting relationships. 

Thanks to Angela, I’ll never forget Lisanne and her families’ Brillo Box. They are a part of me now.

McDonald’s Canada is turning cardboard drink trays into speakers

Debating over whether to fix your sound system or go out to eat? 

McDonalds has the answer!

McDonald’s wants to turn your ordinary drink tray into what the company has dubbed, the”McDonald’s Boombox.’ Yes, you read that correctly; McDonald’s, the fast food restaurant, is giving away free cardboard speakers; welcome to 2017.

Created through a partnership with the University of Waterloo’s Audio Research Group, as well as industrial design organization Stacklab, the portable speaker is set to only be available at a one-day event at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach on July 28th in “limited quantities.”

“For our team, the McDonald’s Boombox was a dream project that allowed us to infuse high tech engineering and theoretical acoustics into an everyday item, and on behalf of a great brand in McDonald’s We’re delighted with the result and hope that everyone who gets their hands on one has as much fun as we did in helping bring it to life,” said Janelle Resch, project lead of Audio Engineering Group and University of Waterloo PhD Candidate in Applied Mathematics.

The McDonald’s Boombox works with any smartphone, whether iPhone or Android, and has been designed to double a device’s maximum built-in volume by increasing sound pressure levels via the cardboard speaker enclosure. The speaker is foil-stamped and features”double-cone polygon speakers’ that are designed to amplify sound and”quality,’ though it’s unlikely that fidelity is a concern for anyone using a cardboard speaker.

The press release then goes on to explain that special slot has been designed in the makeshift cardboard speaker to ensure that smartphones secure in the amplifier while still giving the user access to their phone’s display.

For the audiophiles out there, McDonald’s Boombox speaker can reach a decibel level of 70.4 dB, which is roughly the same volume as a vacuum when it’s in use.

Also, as you may have guessed already, the McDonald’s Boombox is 100 percent recyclable.

 

This article originally appeared at: https://mobilesyrup.com/2017/07/26/mcdonalds-canada-cardboard-drink-tray-speaker/.